SPECIAL NOTICE
66 -- Intent to Sole Source -Fluorescence Microscope (VA-21-00095438)
- Notice Date
- 9/10/2021 6:58:52 AM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- RPO EAST (36C24E) PITTSBURGH PA 15212 USA
- ZIP Code
- 15212
- Solicitation Number
- 36C24E21Q0237
- Archive Date
- 12/18/2021
- Point of Contact
- Lynn M Portman, lynn.portman@va.gov, Phone: (412) 822-3442
- E-Mail Address
-
lynn.portman@va.gov
(lynn.portman@va.gov)
- Awardee
- null
- Description
- The Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham VA Medical Center, intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, pursuant to FAR 6.302-1, with Keyence Corporation of America for the KEYENCE BZ-X800 All-in-One Fluorescence Microscope. The Keyence BZ-X00 is a multi-functional and versatile biological imaging platform for cells and tissues. It is configured with 6 objective lenses and can be used for brightfield imaging of whole tissue slices, for phase contrast imaging of cells in culture and, by using 4 different filter cubes, for fluorescence imaging across the color spectrum. This BZ-X800 configuration includes an integrated Tokaihit temperature and CO2 controller for extended live-cell imaging facilitated by automatic focal plane correction software. It also incorporates an electronic grid system for structured illumination to provide images with the resolution of confocal microscopes. Data analysis packages are included for automated stitching of large images, hybrid cell counting and 3D-reconstructions of cells and tissues. The BZ-X800 captures the functionality of several single-purpose dedicated microscope systems costing up to 5 times more. It is designed from the ground up as a stand-alone system with an enclosure that replaces the need for a dark room and with software controls that minimize the possibility of user errors leading to hardware malfunctions. This Keyence system is the only one on the market with the combination of features required by the VA coupled with ease of operation, small footprint, with built-in dark room and vibration dampening. These specific specifications are required by the VA and Keyence was found to be the only vendor capable of meeting all the salient characteristics stated herein. This is a notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals; however, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement to the contracting office no later than September 16th, 12PM, EST. Interest/capability statements may be sent to Lynn Portman at lynn.portman@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. 1) The product case must include a specimen enclosure to provide an observation environment that, even without a darkroom, will not impair the background contrast required for fluorescence observation. To ensure users can observe in a bright open space without suffering from darkroom-related restrictions because the microscope is installed in a place best suited to the research. 2) The product must have a built-in vibration dampening system with the ability to use up to 100x objectives in a typical lab environment. 3) The microscope must include, as standard components, an electronic shutter, X, Y and Z motorized stages, an electronic revolver, an electronic filter turret, electronic color filters, electronic phase-contrast slit switching mechanism, electronic dimmer filters, and an electronic aperture control; it is necessary that all these components can be operated by an external computer fitted with a USB mouse. Manual adjustment takes much labor and time before optimum settings are reached and user will need to devote a lot of time before they acquire the level of skill necessary. An electronic control system that can be operated easily with the mouse is required to make the tasks efficient and shorten overall time to proficiency. 4) The microscope must be able to recall all image capture settings which include the shutter, aperture, light intensity, XYZ stage position, magnification, filter, imaging mode (brightfield/fluorescence/phase). In addition, there must be no manual/mechanical adjustments related to the microscope structure or the light path (aperture, focus, stage, condenser, lighting). Everything must be only controlled electronically. This requirement is to ensure absolute reproducibility of the imaging technique to obtain dependable results without inconsistencies due to manual mechanical adjustments. 5) Optical sectioning image mode must be available to provide confocal-level image resolution. The operating principal is Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) with a built in spatial light modulator using a programmable liquid filter (LC filter), projecting structured light patterns that can be adjusted to accommodate a variety of samples, vessel types and fluorescence intensities. The built-in software will utilize a user defined structured projection and raster the light pattern across each focal plane to be captured. The software then utilizes an algorithm to perform a scaled subtraction of out of focus fluorescence light, isolating in-focused fluorescence signal which will allow construction of high-resolution 3D models. Both 1D slits and 2D pinhole options must be available for maximum flexibility. If the observation target section is thicker than 5-10 microns, the image may include fluorescence blurring caused by scattered light from positions above and below the focal plane. The optical sectioning image function is required to realize clear observation and determine accurate signal localization. 6) The microscope must be equipped with a navigation function that enables the following: make observations at a high magnification while checking the position over the entire region using a wide-area map image linked with information on the XY stage coordinates and move the observation position by clicking the desired point on the wide-area map image. It must also be possible to create the wide-area map image using any of the mountable lenses. This requirement is associated with the need to shorten capture time by ensuring that it is possible to perform positioning while using a high-magnification lens without having to frequently switch between high-magnification and low-magnification lenses. 7) The microscope must include a function that automatically selects cells based on the contour, color contrast, etc. and automatically counts/calculates the number of cells, area, perimeter, Feret's diameter, major axis, minor axis, and/or integrated brightness value. This software must be compatible with brightfield, phase and fluorescence imaging. The microscope must also include a function that, using selected image information as a target area, allows the user to set conditions again for images in each of such target areas and automatically counts various items. This function must also enable the user to measure area ratios or the like easily. This function enables the user to evaluate the efficiency of accumulation into the nucleus or the like quantitatively. Manual measurement results may be arbitrary or vary among measurers. For objective and reproducible evaluation, an automatic counting function is required. 8) The microscope must include an image cytometer function that can count/aggregate cells, areas, etc. for each well in a well plate. It is necessary to display statistics from acquired data with a heat map or histogram for each well or field of view. It must be possible to conduct analysis on multiple well plates under the same condition in a batch. It must be possible to save images that were the analysis base as a stitched image without reducing the resolution. This function is required to acquire statistics by performing measurement on many specimens under the same condition. 9) The system must be compatible with Akoya s CODEX technology. The Keyence BZ is the only compatible microscope listed as Akoya s official partner. https://www.akoyabio.com/company/our-partners. This requirement is to increase the system s capability to do multi-plex imaging across greater than 40 parameters.
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